Finders Keepers
by ravarath
Summary: AU one shot. On Gallifrey, Rose is a TARDIS technician, and a certain renegade Time Lord has come to her for assistance.


**A/N: this is set on Gallifrey, before the planet's destruction in the Time War. Yes, I know that by the 10th Doctor's time it's been over and done, but this is AU and let's just play along. **

**This is a drabble/one shot thing/idea that came to me as I was working on chapters for other fics. For now, it's going to be just a standalone. **

* * *

"You're aligning that the wrong way."

Rose jumped, nearly dropping the integrated caliper she was holding. "Bloody hell," she cursed, sliding out from under the control console.

It had been dark under there, and the suddenly transition back into the brightly lit room made her blink.

An unfamiliar man stood just a couple feet away, leaning casually against the primary steering panel. "Sorry," he said contritely. "Did I startle you?" He wore rather unusual clothes: a pinstriped suit, worn white shoes, and a long brown coat. Perhaps this sort of outfit would be somewhat in-style on Earth, but Rose thought it just made the man stick out like a sore thumb here on Gallifrey.

She wrinkled her nose. "What're you doing here?" She didn't bother asking who he was. She didn't need to.

This was the Doctor, one of the most infamous members of the already illustrious Prydon Chapter. His name was well known to many (if not all) in the city, and not in a good way. The Doctor had lived just over nine hundred years, but he'd caused enough trouble to last several millennia. Even Rose in the lower echelon of society had heard rumors and tales of his adventures and less-than-proper antics.

Nonetheless, he was a significant personage, and she oughtn't be so terse. "I mean," she cleared her throat, dropping her gaze. "What can I do for you, Lord Doctor?"

To her surprise, he made a face. "No, no," he said, shaking his head resolutely. "Just the Doctor."

"All right, 'just the Doctor,'" she conceded lightly. "How may I help you?"

"I'm in need of some replacement parts." He offered her a hand, smiling winningly.

Rose hesitated, but accepted his help after a moment's consideration. She brushed off her uniform, acutely aware of his eyes on her. "Replacement parts?" She repeated, rummaging in the front pocket. "This is for a type-40 TT Capsule, correct?One that happens to be physically identical to one reported as missing from the Central Archives several centuries ago?"

"Well, you see," the Doctor hedged, running a hand through his hair nervously. "I might have just borrowed it. Well, I say borrowed. To be honest I-"

"Relax, Doctor," Rose laughed, finally finding her records tablet and pulling it out. Sometimes, bigger-on-the-inside pockets were more of a hindrance than a help. "I imagine you'll be wanting a new zig-zag plotter, as well a thermal inverter." She tapped several commands into her handheld computer, putting together a request for the parts. Without looking up, Rose made her way towards the door. "I also recommend changing the time rotor's cycling array. It gets a tad rickety after a couple centuries. Especially in the older models." She turned to face him, giving him a small but cheeky smile. "Was there anything else?"

The Doctor's mouth had dropped open slightly. "How-"

She pushed the door open and stepped aside. "Your parts ought to be in by tomorrow morning," Rose said with a touch of finality, gesturing out the door.

The Time Lord looked a bit nonplussed, walking out the door with a rather comical expression on his face. "R-right," he spluttered. "I'll uh...I'll be back then for...it."

"Oh, and Doctor?"

He whirled back around towards her, still looking a tad shell-shocked. "Yeah?"

Rose turned off her tablet computer, shifting to lean against the door jamb. "A few centuries ago, I was just starting out as an intern at the Central Archives."

"What-"

"They assigned me to the decommissioned TARDISes department, in fact," she continued, speaking over him. "My first project was an obsolete TARDIS model: sturdy and well-built, but with an unusually spirited and independent data heart." She looked wistful, grinning at the memories. "Oh, she was beautiful." Abruptly, Rose straightened up and shrugged. "That is, until one of my fellow interns failed to stop a mystery thief from 'borrowing' it."

The Doctor had the grace to look sheepish. "You see, i-it's just that I-"

But again, she cut him off. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, Doctor."

He looked up in time to catch her amused, tongue-in-teeth look before the door slammed shut in his face.


End file.
